VOICE AND SONG. 3 



of tenderness or melancholy. The Eaven' s c all Gradb ! groab f 

 is, on the contrary, the same under all circumstances ; and 

 the only indication of a change of emotion, is the degree of 

 rapidity with which it is uttered. 



What is called the Song of birds, is, in all cases, expressive 

 either of love or happiness. Thus, the Nightingale sings only 

 during the pairing season, and the period of incubation, and is 

 silent as soon as compelled to feed its young ; while, on the 

 contrary, the Starling, the Bullfinch, and the Canary, sing 

 throughout the year, except when dejected by moulting. It 

 seems, in general, to be a prerogative of the males, by which 

 they either invite or seek to retain the affections of the females. 

 There are indeed a few species, e.g. the Redbreast, Lark, 

 Canary, &c., the females of which, especially if kept by them- 

 selves, manifest a capability of uttering a few notes like those 

 of the male ; but in general they only listen to the song of the 

 males, in order to show their preference for the most accom- 

 plished singer. In a cage of Canaries, the liveliest female 

 always pairs with the best singer ; and a female Chaffinch, 

 when wild, will choose out of a hundred males, the mate 

 whose song is most pleasing to her. 



The Songs of Cage-Birds which, as we have already said, 

 constitute their chief recommendation to the amateur, are di- 

 vided into two classes ; the natural and the artificial. The: 

 former are as various and as numerous as the species of birds 

 themselves ; and I know of no two of our indigenous birds, 

 which exactly resemble each other in this respect. Even the 

 case of the Shrikes, which, on account of their very retentive 

 memory, perfectly succeed in reproducing the songs of the birds 

 whose nests are near their own, forms no exception ; as they 

 so interpolate the imitated song with their own notes, that a 

 connoisseur soon discovers whether he is listening to a Wood- 

 chat Shrike, or a Skylark. A knowledge of the different songs 

 is of great importance, not only to the amateur but to the na- 

 turalist, as many important observations relating to the habits 

 of the feathered tribe can be made, and classified only, by 

 means of their song. 



The artificial song consists in part of notes peculiar to other 

 species, which young birds spontaneously acquire in the 

 aviary, or of passages which have been purposely performed in 

 their hearing on a flute or bird-organ. Almost all singing 



B 2 



